Catch up 1

Dear neglected blog – I never meant to be gone so long. I know blogs aren’t the go-to place that they used to be but I still value mine and use it as a diary of events often. So with that in mind I intend to catch up on the last 4 months beginning with China..

Back in November 2018 we visited Beijing for a week to see our daughter whose studying there.

What we were told to expect was not at all how we found it ourselves. I enjoyed the straight-forwardness of the Chinese. Loved its food culture, historic buildings, paintings, metro system, the fact that it’s totally acceptable to photograph anyone/anything/anytime – even in commercial art galleries selling private artwork, they have a shared love of people watching but without needing to be candid about it and a cultural agreement about the value of the handmade, hand painted. And of course the group dancing in the street to keep fit!

Everything was beautiful, inspiring for painting and pattern and simply new to my eyes and knowledge about Chinese history.

I bought a big stack of rice paper back to emulate the beautiful Chinese painting I saw.

And some textile treasures from the markets beautifully embroidered.

And we were well placed to go see the best remaining section of The Great Wall-cold but fun.

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1 comment

Hi Claire, I have some catching up to do to – How wonderful to visit China, and that your daughter is there too, so good to spend time together – more parts of the world accessible to the young these days. I love the textiles,paintings, and the architecture is stunning. I watched a TV programme about the engineering of the palaces/ temples/ wall. everything hand build and wooden structures locked together, yet on the ground, no foundations but flexible to withstand the weather- amazing. and so beautiful. Thank you for sharing on your blog. Love Pat xx